Description:
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<jats:list-item><jats:p>The effects of ethyl alcohol and wine (red and white) on haemostatic parameters and experimental thrombosis were studied in rats; NO was evaluated as a possible mediator of these effects.</jats:p></jats:list-item>
<jats:list-item><jats:p>We found that red wine (12% alcohol) supplementation (8.4±0.4 ml d<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> in drinking water, for 10 days) induced a marked prolongation of ‘template’ bleeding time (BT) (258±13 vs 132±13 s in controls; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><0.001), a decrease in platelet adhesion to fibrillar collagen (11.6±1.0 vs 32.2±1.3%; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><0.01) and a reduction in thrombus weight (1.45±0.33 vs 3.27±0.39 mg; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><0.01).</jats:p></jats:list-item>
<jats:list-item><jats:p>Alcohol‐free red wine showed an effect similar to red wine. In contrast, neither ethyl alcohol (12%) nor white wine (12% alcohol) affected these systems.</jats:p></jats:list-item>
<jats:list-item><jats:p>All these effects were also observed after red wine i.v. injection (1 ml kg<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> of 1 : 4 dilution) 15 min before the experiments.</jats:p></jats:list-item>
<jats:list-item><jats:p>The effects of red wine were prevented by the NO inhibitor, N<jats:sup>ω</jats:sup>nitro‐<jats:sc>L</jats:sc>‐arginine‐methyl ester (<jats:sc>L</jats:sc>‐NAME). <jats:sc>L</jats:sc>‐arginine, not <jats:sc>D</jats:sc>‐arginine, reversed the effect of <jats:sc>L</jats:sc>‐NAME on red wine infusion.</jats:p></jats:list-item>
<jats:list-item><jats:p>Red wine injection induced a 3 fold increase in total radical‐trapping antioxidant parameter values of rat plasma with respect to controls, while white wine and alcohol did not show any effect.</jats:p></jats:list-item>
<jats:list-item><jats:p>Our study provides evidence that red wine modulates primary haemostasis and prevents experimental thrombosis in rats, independently of its alcohol content, by a NO‐mediated mechanism.</jats:p></jats:list-item>
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</jats:p><jats:p><jats:italic>British Journal of Pharmacology</jats:italic> (1999) <jats:bold>127</jats:bold>, 747–755; doi:<jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" xlink:href="10.1038/sj.bjp.0702586">10.1038/sj.bjp.0702586</jats:ext-link></jats:p>